Remodeling the Attic in Our 1920 House

Because Mama needs a room of her own.

Photo by Dan Visan on Unsplash

My attic is a little decrepit, very big, finished, and full of light.

It’s beautiful. When we moved into this house, we came from Nevada to Pennsylvania and rented long distance. Not only had I never seen this house before (except pictures), I hadn’t even been to Pennsylvania. Ever.

It was this picture of my attic, on the realtor’s website, that spoke to my imagination.

My attic, before we moved in. (Screenshot: Author)

We packed up our large, blended family — including getting rid of probably 75 percent of everything we owned — and drove across country in 45 days. It was intense and every night, I’d look at that picture and imagine having that big, beautiful space to write in.

To create in.

We got to Pennsylvania in November 2018. And I realized a few things that first day.

• Our attic has no heat or air conditioning.
• Pennsylvania is cold in November and it was twenty-two degrees in the attic, according to the thermometer someone left hanging on the wall.
• It smelled really bad up there. Really bad…